Solar System Log by Andrew Wilson, published 1987 by Jane's Publishing Co. Ltd.

This subset of the "second-generation" Luna spacecraft, the Ye-6LF, was designed to take the U.S.S.R.'s first photographs of the surface of the Moon from lunar orbit. A secondary objective was to obtain data on mass concentrations ("mascons") on the Moon first detected by Luna 10.

Using the basic Ye-6 bus, a suite of scientific instruments (plus an imaging system similar to the one used on Zond 3) replaced the small lander capsule used on the soft-landing flights. The resolution of the photos was reportedly 15 to 20 meters. A technological experiment included testing the efficiency of gear transmission in vacuum as a test for a future lunar rover.

Luna 11, launched only two weeks after the U.S. Lunar Orbiter, successfully entered lunar orbit at 21:49 UT on 27 August. Parameters were 160 x 1,193 kilometers. During the mission, the TV camera failed to return usable images because the spacecraft lost proper orientation to face the lunar surface when a foreign object was lodged in the nozzle of one of the attitude-control thrusters. The other instruments functioned without fault before the mission formally ended on 1 October 1966 after the power supply had been depleted.

Key Dates

24 Aug 1966: Launch

27 Aug 1966: Lunar Orbit Insertion (21:49 UT)

Status: Partial Success

Fast Facts

A jammed thruster prevented Luna 11 from pointing its TV camera at the lunar surface.

The spacecraft carried a experiment to test gears for a future robotic Moon rover.